Lancashire v Surrey: Liam Livingstone stars as hosts close in on win

Specsavers County Championship Division One, Emirates Old Trafford (day three):Surrey 201-8 dec & 242: Stoneman 98, Burns 45; Livingstone 6-52Lancashire 268 & 132-3: Livingstone 51; Clarke 2-36Lancashire need 44 more runs to winLancashire 4 pts, Surrey 4 ptsScorecardLiam Livingstone took six wickets and scored an unbeaten 51 as Lancashire moved with 44 runs of beating Surrey and finishing second in Division One.Bad light ended play with Lancashire 132-3 chasing 176 to win.England and Surrey opener Mark Stoneman fell to Livingstone (6-52) two runs short of a century, while Kumar Sangakkara made 35 not out in his final first-class innings before retiring.

All 10 Surrey wickets fell inside 30 overs as they posted 242 all out.Surrey made a bright start as Rory Burns and Stoneman put on 154 for the first wicket before leg-spinner Livingstone struck to remove the latter.Stoneman – named in England’s Ashes squad earlier in the day – went for 98 from 113 balls when he was caught by Dane Vilas, while Burns was trapped lbw by Stephen Parry (4-59).In successive deliveries, Livingstone then removed Scott Borthwick and Ben Foakes, who has also been called up to the Ashes squad, for a golden duck Lancashire threatened to stumble themselves, making hard work of their chase early on, with first-innings centurion Steven Croft going for a duck.However, after his earlier career-best bowling figures, Livingstone hit his third half-century of the season – to go with his two tons – as Lancashire closed in on victory.Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone:”I didn’t even expect to bowl, I didn’t bowl in the warm-ups this morning. I just expected to be stood in the field watching Stephen Parry and Matt Parkinson take the wickets. But it was one of those days when things happened quite quickly.”I was having a laugh with Kyle Jarvis at the start of the day wondering if I would ever get a five-wicket haul before I retire, and he was talking about getting a hundred. It’s just down to him now!”We are in a good position, but they were in a good position at 150-0 so we won’t be taking anything for granted. We have a big job in the morning. He can finish the season on a high and get what we deserve.”Surrey batsman Mark Stoneman:”Overall I’d say it was disappointing. The partnership with myself and Rory Burns started to get us into a decent position in the game but the spin that was on offer, they managed to make the most of.”Once we lost a couple we couldn’t really grab the momentum back and Lancashire did well to keep us to that lead. You never know if we can get two quick wickets first thing it puts all the pressure back on to Lancashire. It then becomes their game to lose. (on Ashes call-up) “It’s absolutely amazing for me, Test cricket is a dream but then the Ashes is just that extra bit of icing on the cake. Some of the greatest Tests ever played have been Ashes Tests. To be a part of that is a dream come true.”
Source: BBC Lancashire